Republic Steel says it will restart Lorain facility

Hundreds of jobs could return

By
Kevin Martin, The Morning Journal

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Republic Steel, the nation’s leading provider of special bar quality steel, announced March 8 that it is positioned to restart its Lorain facility, including its idled electric arc furnace, casters and rolling mills, on short notice as a response to the recently announced steel tariff, according to a news release from the company.

Republic is prepared to respond quickly to an anticipated uptick in demand across the nation, the release said.

Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer said the city cannot wait for the steel workers to get back to work.

Lorain Ward 6 Councilman Angel Arroyo Jr. said he was notified this afternoon of Republic’s decision and is excited for what it means for the city.

“This is great news for the city, my ward and most importantly, those that will get their jobs back that got laid off,” Arroyo said. “This is a victory for our community and time for the leaders in our community to continue to fight for the people in our community.”

Council-at-Large member Mary Springowski agreed.

“I think this is such a blessing. I couldn’t be more delighted for the people that will be called back. I really hope this is just the start of the economic turnaround for Lorain,” Springowski said.

Republic currently has open capacity at its Canton melt shop and would restart Lorain, which would provide more than a million tons of new production capacity to support the SBQ bar and coil and seamless tube round markets, according to the release.

This could result in Republic bringing back more than 1,000 jobs to its Lorain, the release said.

Republic anticipates that it would take a few months to hire and train employees and restart its idled equipment.

“Republic is more than prepared to support market demand that has been previously supplied by imports,” Jaime Vigil, president and CEO, said in the release.

Vigil continues, “We maintained our Lorain facility while it’s been idled waiting for the opportunity to restart and it appears that time is finally here.”